A Website Presence that Wows: From Word of Mouth to Worldwide
Overview
ArMex Stone™ is the Southeast’s favorite stone fabrication and installation company. Their customer-oriented process, obsession with the finest details and capacity to meet the toughest schedules within budget, on time—every time make them the choice for architects, contractors, designers, Realtors®, and homeowners.
For years, the owners relied on word-of-mouth and their Facebook page to communicate with prospects and designers.
As their services and product lines expanded, they realized that ArMex Stone was fast outgrowing its marketing approach.
The firm’s owners wanted a website that could appeal to each group’s product and service preferences. Commercial clients wanted to understand their stone fabrication capabilities. Designers were looking for companies with a solid web presence and a stunning portfolio gallery of projects to partner with.
Residential customers wanted to easily find product options to select materials based on type, style, ease of maintenance and color.
With new orders coming in and a fourth baby on the way, the new website also had to capture and convert leads as well as perform very specific operational tasks.
Our Process
ArMex needed more than just a pretty website. In order to create a solution worthy of the craftsmanship of their stone, we needed to understand their business and customer expectations.
We shadowed Fernanda at the office to see how the operation worked. “We watched her effortlessly juggle a baby on one hip, three phones at the same time, and responding to leads coming through email.” We then went to a job site to see Cristian and the fabrication team in action. We also invested the time—on our dime—to learn the difference between quartz and marble, edge profiles and stone types.
In our discovery process, we learned that ArMex Stone partners with dozens of suppliers and offers a whopping 500+ different types of stone brands and colors. We also saw first-hand how manual customer care was, and how leads were leaking through their system.
One of the things that we do at MASONKELLY is we learn on our own dime. If we don’t know the customer, their business and in this case the stone- we aren’t able to deliver a solution worth the invoice. So we take the time to learn the details to deliver projects that are outstanding.
Furthermore, to keep their site fresh at a low cost after launch, the duo wanted to maintain their own site. Now, fully informed on the obstacles and opportunities the growing company faced, we designed a solution to help them attract more designers and scale quotes based on their customer acquisition process.
Solution
Our team wanted to create a site worthy of the beauty and craftsmanship of Cristian’s process as well as his unmatched work-ethic. Our solution; a mobile first, conversion focused digital destination that expressed Cristian’s obsession with details, the beauty of their stone installations and a backend support system to help the operation scale.
Because the duo wanted to maintain the site after launch, we built the new website on the Squarespace platform. Then we created the user experience, copy, imagery, and backend processes.
How We Delieverd:
Crafted the company’s brand story. Complete with voice, tone, and construction, we scripted the copy that delivered the key messages the duo wanted each of their customer segments to know. The new copy captured the artistic details of the beautiful stone products that they offered so the company could distinguish its value over the competition.
Curated a collection of breathtaking images. The imagery was a critical factor for this project. The website needed an array of “Instagrammable” moments to visually sell the beauty and style of different stone materials and fabrication possibilities. The new imagery would show off the beauty of the stone materials and how the stone could be crafted with unique design flair allowing ArMex to visually demonstrate its fabrication superiority.
Carved out a service section. ArMex also wanted to showcase their fabrication possibilities and services so people would understand every step in a process for a project. We created a dedicated page that talked about the tools they used for fabrication, their polishing techniques to renew the luster of stone, and their sealing and resealing capabilities.
Created backend sales and customer service processes. We streamlined the quote process through forms, automatic responders and educational resources such as the gallery and a special edge profile page. The company could now quickly respond to quotes and usher customers to the next step in the process with little effort—lifting a mountain of manual work off Fernanda.
Designed the user journey to stay on site. Our design approach emphasized the dozens of brands available with all the color options possible. We brought all the suppliers’ colors and options into the ArMex website interface so that site visitors could make decisions without leaving their site.
Result
After four months, and the new baby’s arrival, ArMex Stone found their business explode with new customers and projects since the website went live. ArMex Stone now had an online presence that matched its superior fabrication services. And the recently expanded their operation opening a second location.
With the new website, Cristian and Fernanda opened a second office in the Buckhead Design Center to meet demand. They also are now offering custom cabinetry – the perfect complement to their stone installations.
“I couldn’t be happier. The designers and customers love it! The new lead forms and project starter pages save me so much time. ”
Cristian Guianguanlo
Owner